There is considerable evidence that suggests that recombination occurs between homologous sequences in the mammalian genome and that this has important consequences in terms of its organization during development and evolution. For example, reciprocal recombination between repeated sequences either on the same or between sister chromatids can lead to the loss or gain of DNA sequences (Reis and Goldstein 1980; Varmus et al. 1981; Roberts et al. 1983). Other indirect evidence strongly indicates that nonreciprocal recombination (gene conversion) takes place; this is based on numerous comparisons between the DNA sequences of the members of gene families such as the globin genes, the histocompatibility antigen genes, and the immunoglobin heavy- and light-chain genes (for review, see Baltimore 1981; Egel 1981).
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Smith et al. (1984) studied this question.